What Does Approving a Delegate Do?
Approving a delegate allows another address to transfer or burn a limited amount of tokens from a token account on behalf of the token account owner.
A token account stores one current delegate and one delegated amount at a time. Approving a new delegate replaces the previous delegate and allowance on the account.
How to Approve a Delegate
Approving a delegate uses the Token Program's Approve or
ApproveChecked instruction.
The examples below use ApproveChecked, which requires the caller to
provide the mint and decimals so the instruction can verify the expected mint
and token precision before processing the approval.
The token account owner signs the approval.
Source Reference
| Item | Description | Token Program | Token Extension Program |
|---|---|---|---|
Account | The token account state stores the owner, delegate, and delegated amount. | Source | Source |
Approve | A delegate-approval instruction that records the delegate and allowance for a token account without requiring the caller to provide the mint or decimals. | Source | Source |
ApproveChecked | A delegate-approval instruction that requires the caller to provide the mint and decimals and checks those values before recording the delegate and allowance. | Source | Source |
process_approve | Shared processor logic for delegate approval. | Source | Source |
Typescript
The Kit examples below show the recommended approach using @solana/kit.
Legacy examples using @solana/web3.js are included for reference.
Kit
import { generateKeyPairSigner } from "@solana/kit";import { createLocalClient } from "@solana/kit-client-rpc";import {findAssociatedTokenPda,tokenProgram,TOKEN_PROGRAM_ADDRESS} from "@solana-program/token";const client = await createLocalClient().use(tokenProgram());const mint = await generateKeyPairSigner();const delegate = await generateKeyPairSigner();const [tokenAccount] = await findAssociatedTokenPda({mint: mint.address,owner: client.payer.address,tokenProgram: TOKEN_PROGRAM_ADDRESS});const result = await client.token.instructions.approveChecked({source: tokenAccount, // Token account whose delegate approval changes.mint: mint.address, // Mint for the token the delegate may spend.delegate: delegate.address, // Delegate allowed to spend from the token account.owner: client.payer, // Owner approving this delegate change.amount: 25n, // Token amount in base units.decimals: 2 // Decimals defined on the mint account.}).sendTransaction();const tokenAccountData = await client.token.accounts.token.fetch(tokenAccount);console.log("Mint Address:", mint.address);console.log("\nToken Account Address:", tokenAccount);console.log("Token Account:", tokenAccountData.data);console.log("\nDelegate Address:", delegate.address);console.log("\nTransaction Signature:", result.context.signature);
Web3.js
import { Connection, Keypair, LAMPORTS_PER_SOL } from "@solana/web3.js";import {createAssociatedTokenAccount,approveChecked,createMint,getAccount,mintToChecked,TOKEN_PROGRAM_ID} from "@solana/spl-token";const result = await approveChecked(connection, // Connection to the local validator.feePayer, // Account paying transaction fees.mintPubkey, // Mint for the token the delegate may spend.associatedTokenAccount, // Token account whose delegate approval changes.delegate.publicKey, // Delegate allowed to spend from the token account.feePayer, // Owner approving this delegate change.25, // Token amount in base units.2, // Decimals defined on the mint account.[], // Additional multisig signers.{commitment: "confirmed" // Confirmation options for the transaction.},TOKEN_PROGRAM_ID // Token program to invoke.);const tokenAccountData = await getAccount(connection,associatedTokenAccount,"confirmed",TOKEN_PROGRAM_ID);console.log("Mint Address:", mintPubkey.toBase58());console.log("\nAssociated Token Account Address:",associatedTokenAccount.toBase58());console.log("Associated Token Account:", tokenAccountData);console.log("\nDelegate Address:", delegate.publicKey.toBase58());console.log("\nTransaction Signature:", result);
Rust
use anyhow::Result;use solana_client::nonblocking::rpc_client::RpcClient;use solana_commitment_config::CommitmentConfig;use solana_sdk::{program_pack::Pack,signature::{Keypair, Signer},transaction::Transaction,};use solana_system_interface::instruction::create_account;use spl_associated_token_account_interface::{address::get_associated_token_address, instruction::create_associated_token_account,};use spl_token_interface::{id as token_program_id,instruction::{approve_checked, initialize_mint, mint_to_checked},state::{Account, Mint},};#[tokio::main]async fn main() -> Result<()> {let client = RpcClient::new_with_commitment(String::from("http://localhost:8899"),CommitmentConfig::confirmed(),);let delegate = Keypair::new();let approve_amount = 25;let transaction = Transaction::new_signed_with_payer(&[approve_checked(&token_program_id(), // Token program to invoke.&associated_token_address, // Token account whose delegate approval changes.&mint.pubkey(), // Mint for the token the delegate may spend.&delegate.pubkey(), // Delegate allowed to spend from the token account.&fee_payer.pubkey(), // Owner approving this delegate change.&[], // Additional multisig signers.approve_amount, // Token amount in base units.decimals, // Decimals defined on the mint account.)?,],Some(&fee_payer.pubkey()),&[&fee_payer],latest_blockhash,);let transaction_signature = client.send_and_confirm_transaction(&transaction).await?;let token_account = client.get_account(&associated_token_address).await?;let token_data = Account::unpack(&token_account.data)?;println!("Mint Address: {}", mint.pubkey());println!("\nAssociated Token Account Address: {}",associated_token_address);println!("Associated Token Account: {:#?}", token_data);println!("\nDelegate Address: {}", delegate.pubkey());println!("\nTransaction Signature: {}", transaction_signature);Ok(())}
Python
#!/usr/bin/env python3import asyncioimport jsonfrom solana.rpc.async_api import AsyncClientfrom solders.keypair import Keypairfrom solders.message import Messagefrom solders.pubkey import Pubkeyfrom solders.system_program import create_account, CreateAccountParamsfrom solders.transaction import Transactionfrom spl.token.async_client import AsyncTokenfrom spl.token.instructions import (approve_checked,ApproveCheckedParams,create_associated_token_account,get_associated_token_address,initialize_mint,InitializeMintParams,mint_to_checked,MintToCheckedParams,)from spl.token.constants import MINT_LEN, TOKEN_PROGRAM_IDDECIMALS = 2AMOUNT_TO_MINT = 100AMOUNT_TO_APPROVE = 25async def main():rpc = AsyncClient("http://localhost:8899")delegate = Keypair()async with rpc:approve_delegate_instruction = approve_checked(ApproveCheckedParams(program_id=TOKEN_PROGRAM_ID, # Token program to invoke.source=token_account_address, # Token account whose delegate approval changes.mint=mint.pubkey(), # Mint for the token the delegate may spend.delegate=delegate.pubkey(), # Account allowed to spend from the token account.owner=fee_payer.pubkey(), # Account that owns the token account.amount=AMOUNT_TO_APPROVE, # Token amount in base units.decimals=DECIMALS, # Decimals defined on the mint account.))latest_blockhash = await rpc.get_latest_blockhash()transaction = Transaction([fee_payer],Message([approve_delegate_instruction], fee_payer.pubkey()),latest_blockhash.value.blockhash,)result = await rpc.send_transaction(transaction)token_account_info = await token.get_account_info(token_account_address)token_account = {key: str(value) if isinstance(value, Pubkey) else valuefor key, value in token_account_info._asdict().items()}print("Mint Address:", mint.pubkey())print("\nToken Account Address:", token_account_address)print("Token Account:")print(json.dumps(token_account, indent=2))print("\nDelegate Address:", delegate.pubkey())print("\nTransaction Signature:", result.value)if __name__ == "__main__":asyncio.run(main())
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